But the minister said he had to answer the call of nature because he felt unwell - and couldn't find a toilet.

Mr Shinde, who is state minister for water conservation, said he had been travelling for the last month reviewing an irrigation scheme when he was caught short on a stretch of road between Barshi and Solapur in south-west Maharashtra on Saturday.

"Continuous travelling in high temperatures and dust made me ill. I was also suffering from fever," the minister, from Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told PTI news agency.